Not only did we run 26.2 miles, but we had this crazy idea to run in"Vibram Five-Finger Shoes." These shoes are based off of the minimalist running theory explored in the book "Born to Run." The basic idea is that humans have been running long before Nike invented tennis shoes. The theory states that while running with no cushion (only a barrier to protect your skin) your feet and joints actually experience less force. Well... our experience? A marathon hurts no matter what you wear!!
Our goal was to run 26.2 miles in 4 hours. At 7am the gun went off and we were off to a good start. "Not too fast... Not too fast" I had to keep telling myself. "This isn't a race...it's SURVIVAL!"With these words circling my head we managed to complete the first 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 5 minutes. I felt very accomplished--We can do this, we are on track! Shortly thereafter I realized I had spoken to soon; Brian started having stomach issues and my left hip was tightening up like a drum. But with a few short stops, we were able to keep moving.
Miles 17-19 were the most mentally challenging miles. It is at this point in the race that runners will describe as "Hitting the Wall." By this point your muscles have completely run out of their glycogen stores (this is what gives you energy). I don't know if it is somethingyou can really describe, but only experience. It was a mental battle to keep my feet moving. I learned quickly that walking for "30 seconds" really turned into 1 minute, then it hurt even worse to start running again. The words from Disney's Nemo came into my head (slightly revised) "just keep running, running, running (not swimming). just keep running..."
Seeing the mile "20" mark gave me hope. "Six more miles and I will never ever have to do this again!" At this point, I had eaten a few tubes of Honey and it gave me the energy to 
push past "The Wall" and get a second wind of energy. We were winding down through the beautiful Ogden Canyon. The water levels were high and there were waterfalls about every mile. I tried hard to focus on the beautiful canyon and not my aching body.
push past "The Wall" and get a second wind of energy. We were winding down through the beautiful Ogden Canyon. The water levels were high and there were waterfalls about every mile. I tried hard to focus on the beautiful canyon and not my aching body.Mile 23, we were into the City! Only 3 more miles! While this gave us a glimmer of hope, I was soon distracted. For some reason the race officials decided to let a Cookie Company help sponsor the race. As we ran through the water station at mile 23 there were people with huge trays of chocolate chip cookies! BLEH!!! WHO CAN EAT COOKIES RIGHT NOW? We have been running for 23 miles and still have 3.2 more miles to go! I couldn't even look at the buttery, chocolately things. But I turned my head and kept running.
The last 1.2 miles is a straight shot for the finish line. "I can see it! I can see it!" It looked so close. At this point people started gathering around us to cheer us on. "You're almost there!" "You can do this!" "You are so strong!" I was like "YA!" Until an older gentleman decided to shout out "Only 5 more blocks!" I almost stopped right there and said "WHAT!!?!? 5 MORE BLOCKS? I CAN"T RUN FIVE MORE BLOCKS!" I wanted to tell him to stick with the "you're almost there" principle--don't actually tell me how far I have left or I might just give up!
Past mile sign #26, "Aren't we done??" Nope. .2 more to go. The crowds were cheering loudly, my muscles were tight and aching, actually...I almost started crying. We past the Finish line!!! It took us 4 hours and 47 minutes (a bit longer than we had hoped) but it was over! I bowed my head as I was given my race medal and limped over to the recovery area.
What an adventure!!
What an adventure!!
4 comments:
Jessica, WOW! I felt like I made the run with you, like on a TV screen not on foot. How exciting and quite the accomplishment. A Hearty congratulations to you. And I loved your writing, too.
Love, janet Andersen
PS Would you run with the same footware if you could do it again?
Congratulations! What's amazing to me is that you *both* made it!
Dina-Thanks! I think it's amazing we finished too!
Janet-It is so good to hear from you! It has been awhile!
If I do it again, I will probably choose to run in tennis shoes so I can really have a point of reference to judge from.
My two brother in-laws and sister in-law ran with us and they all ran in tennis shoes. They completed the race slightly faster than us, but were in just as much or more pain. So...I guess I should try both!
AWESOME Jess!!!! That's so great. I would have literally died
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